Undressed
by mysticxf
Summary: Kate hopes to rid herself of the last tangible remnant of her time with The Others. PostCaptivity fic! Possible spoilers for season three.


Lost and its characters belong to JJ Abrams, Bad Robot and The Others. Kate hopes to rid herself of the last tangible remnant of her time with The Others. (Post-Captivity fic!) Possible spoilers for season three.

Lost – Undressed

By Mystic

October 9th 2006

The fabric wasn't as soft as it was when she first pulled it over her head. It crumpled between her hands as she breathed in the fresh ocean air and listened to the sounds of people getting ready to go to sleep. It had been a long day.

Kate slung the dress over her shoulder as she took a long thick stick and poked at her fire with it, bursting it open, higher, before taking the dress again and holding it up in front of her. She never liked dresses. Not when she was a child and her mother dressed her for the times they went to church and certainly not on Prom night when the only person she impressed was her drunken father who whistled her off into the night.

With a sigh, she glanced at the fire and touched the dirt stains she'd accumulated on that dress during her time with the Others. Her thumb rubbed over a splattering of blood. If it was hers or Sawyer's, she didn't know.

She closed her eyes a moment, flashes of memories popped against her eyelids. As much as she never wanted to think about it again, it stayed fresh on her mind and in her nightmares, waking her sharply hours before the sun had thought to come up. They kept bags under her eyes and a rolling sensation in her stomach throughout the day that only got worse if she went into the jungle.

Some part of her thought it had all ended too easily. After two weeks of 'unpleasant' activity, as Ben had promised, they'd just decided they were finished with them. She remembered the needle striking her harshly in the side of her neck as both men shouted her name. Kate assumed they'd been struck shortly afterwards. They awoke not far from camp, dizzy and dirty and tired and thirsty.

She held the dress over the flames, letting it dangle just a moment before taking in a long breath, her fingers starting to relax and let go.

"Don't…" Jack's voice called, making her grasp tightly to the dress and pull it back to her chest, protectively.

It was something about her he'd never seen. Femininity she'd hidden from him until the day they took her into the room next to his. She remembered the way his lips were quick to form a grin of relief and shifted just as quick to hide it. He'd walked towards the glass and raised a hand, pressing it there until she placed hers on that same spot. They shared a shy smile at the stupidity of the gesture, but also sighed together at the genuineness of it.

She wanted nothing more than to feel his arms around her, making her feel safe in a way no one else ever could. Kate wanted to break through that glass and be with him. They read it on each other's faces, all the questions and all the sorrow and after a long silence, he'd asked her if she was ok.

Kate smiled up at Jack, watching his bare feet shift through the sand as he walked towards her, his shoulders drooping in defeat. They'd been that way since they returned, like he'd failed everyone by being captured. Kate wrung the dress in her hands as he stopped next to her and touched the hem gently, rubbing it between his fingers.

"I wanted to burn it, burn at least part of that experience away," she whispered honestly.

Jack nodded. He watched her, waiting because he knew she had more to say. Kate bit her lip tightly and bowed her head, feeling embarrassed. He'd always had that ability – to read her when no one else could.

"You know what the first thing they made me do when I woke up was?" She waited for him to shake his head before admitting, "They made me shower. And I didn't mind. I felt dirty."

Jack touched her hair, pushing it behind her right shoulder.

"They burned my clothes."

He smiled. "So this is retaliation," he motioned to the dress hanging on her wrist.

Kate looked away, chuckling softly. "It just felt like they wanted to scrub away the new life I got here, replace it with the life THEY wanted for me." She handed him the dress.

Jack let the dress fall free, the fabric ruffling slightly in the evening breeze. "I like it." His eyes found hers and he added, "I think you should keep it."

She snorted, crossing her hands over her stomach. "You keep it."

He held the dress to his chest. "Kate, it's not quite my size."

Laughing, she turned away from him, walking towards the ocean and listening as he followed. Kate kicked off her 'new' sneakers and pressed her feet into the cold sand just before a wave came up, splashing her with its freezing water. Somewhere in her mind, she knew it was January now, and the idea that she'd missed another Christmas, another New Year, saddened her.

Jack laid a hand on her back, his fingers kneading gently into her muscles. "Things feel so different now," he told her softly, making her shift and turn towards him. "No one looks at me the way they used to. It's like they've lost confidence in me."

"I haven't," Kate told him with a short shake of her head. "They just need time to adjust. It's different for them too."

Lowering his head, he sighed, "Funny how much things change in just a few weeks." He pulled her closer and she rested her cheek against his chest, listening to his heart beating calmly there as he wrapped his arms around her.

Kate closed her eyes and let him rock her gently as the waves buried their feet together in the sand. She felt him plant a kiss on her head and heard him sigh against the wind. She smiled. "I should keep that dress," she offered, her hands coming to grip his shirt at his waist.

"Oh yeah," he hummed.

"Yeah," Kate agreed. "I heard there's a guy who thinks it's nice."

Finis


End file.
